ANXIETY IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Abstract

Anxiety is a biological inheritance for self-defense purposes that has been affecting people, whereas studies related to the topic on physical education teachers are limited. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of anxiety traits in Physical Education teachers in the basic education network in Montes Claros – MG. To this end, a descriptive research was carried out with a quantitative, comparative, and cross-sectional approach. The sample consisted of 40 teachers, both sexes, aged between 25 and 58 years, randomly selected, all of whom were Physical Education teachers working in public state schools. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used as the instrument. The results showed that the average age of the evaluated teachers was 41.3 ± 7.6 years, with equal participation by sex (50% male and 50% female) and time of teaching in School Physical Education ranging from 2 to 28 years (15.4 ± 7.7 years). It was verified that most teachers did not show signs of anxiety, even though a considerable number presented other levels of anxiety. The anxiety levels presented by the female sex were statistically higher when compared to the male sex. It is concluded, therefore, that in the surveyed sample, the majority did not show signs of anxiety; however, more than a third of the evaluated presented this disorder. A noteworthy fact was verifying a higher prevalence of anxiety in females.